Episodes from a medical student's perspective

Tag Archives: 2300 day prophecy

Today I am reflecting on my spiritual heritage. I grew up in a home where my mother taught me about the Bible. I had children’s books on the stories in the Bible. In fact there’s a set of ten blue books which are in my living room that contain just about all the stories from Genesis to Revelation in my native tongue, Spanish. It is from the nightly reading of these books that I learned to read in Spanish but also learned about the God in the Holy Bible.

Lessons from this book: Heartwarming stories of Adventist Pioneers by Norma J. Collins [By the way I would recommend this book to any one wanting to learn more about the men and women of the Second Advent Movement. Another book I’d recommend is: Pioneer Stories of the Second Advent Message by Arthur Spaulding. ]

Heman S. Gurney was a singing blacksmith who was a man of prayer and actually witnessed prayers of healing being answered.

Joseph Bates was nearly hung in the South during one of his preaching tours.

Annie Smith was a poet, editor, and artist.

James White, went on a preaching tour with a horse borrowed from his father.

William Miller (the pioneer I find many similarities with) had a passion for reading and as a young child would stay up late at night reading near the fire (I at times would curl up in bed with a flashlight so I could read in bed all night). Miller at one point was a deist due to being influenced by reading works from Ethan Allen, Voltaire, David Hume, Thomas Paine. It was through studying his Bible even far into the night that he came to know the living and active God. He is known for ‘discovering’ the 2300 day prophecy.

Here’s are some of Miller’s words:

I saw the Bible did bring to view just such a Savior as I needed, and I was perplexed to find out how an uninspired book should develop principles so perfectly adapted to the wants of a fallen world. I was constrained [forced!] to admit that the Scriptures must be a revelation from God. They became my delight and in Jesus I found a Friend

In studying history one can gain much more understanding of the present. This is one reason I chose to spend some quiet hours learning about the men and women who were active in the 1800s and had a desire for truth. They found truth in the Bible.
During my undergraduate years I came to a point in my life that I asked the question: what is truth? Have I been brainwashed to think a certain way? I was drawn to study out various religions of the world and was drawn towards the Bible. I came to accept the religion that I had grown up with as my own. I chose to attend church because I now had a deeper understanding of communal worship and what it means to belong to Christ’s “bride” (His church). I am still on a pusuit for truth. I don’t believe this quest will end anytime soon. I have chosen the yardstick for truth to be the Holy Scriptures.

This really made me think:

It wasn’t easy for these men and women [pioneers] to turn aside from teachings they’d adhered to all their lives, but truth is truth, and they followed it intelligently and willingly Heartwarming stories of Adventist Pioneers by Norma J. Collins